You are probably referring to a New York Times article on teacher pay around the world. Korea is a clear outlier according to their data which makes one doubt t

You are probably referring to a New York Times article on teacher pay around the world. Korea is a clear outlier according to their data which makes one doubt the methodology used. Teachers in US are paid a decent salary. For example, in New York City they earn $50k-100k per year with good health and retirement benefits. It is not easy to get that kind of job in private sector. In NYC suburbs teachers make even more, lots of them more than $100k. These jobs are very hard to get, and most require a MSc/PhD degree.